Accessory for wheeled vehicles



Aug. 20, 1940. y J, w, SCHAFER 2,212,327

ACCESSORY F-OR WHEELED VEHICLES ATTOR'N EYS A118. 20, 1940- l J. w. scHAFl-:R 2,212,327

ACCESSORY FOR WHEELED VEHICLES Filed Oct. 12, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 wr-rNESst-:s INVENTOR Jhn W. Schgezfar Q fm m Mq ATTORNEYS Aug. 20,v 1940. J. w. scHAFER 4 2,212,327

ACCESSORY FOR WHEELED VEHICLES Filed OCT.. l2, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR wl-rlvsssss Joh-n ZLZ Schcfm 1 .v M ATTORNEY? I Aug. 20, 1940. 1 w SCHAFER 2,212,327

ACCESSORY FOR WHEELED VEHICLES Filed Oct. l2, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 5f" ./0. l ff I F I' l I l l I`:

74 "3| lul IL 60 :Il |I|I 37 lll 2 IH Il o lll Il' f a@ 4 j l LEES ,q 3 En I 6' fee -90 z5 70 22 g l i INVENTOR 'TNEssF-'s 757171 ZM Schaffer AUS- 20, 1940- J. w. scHAFER 2,212,327

ACCESSORY FOR WHEELED VEHICLES Filed oct. 12, y1939 5 sheets-sheet 5 lill/Ilm INVENTOR John 7/0. Schat, er

ATTORNEY@- I WITNESSES Patented Aug. 20, 1940 UNirsosrArss een orgies Claims.

This invention relates to wheeled vehicles and particularly to an improved accessory therefor, an'object being to provide a construction which may be actuated by the power element of the vehicle for parking the vehicle in a restricted space.

Another object of the invention is to provide an accessory for a wheeled vehicle having an engine wherein power may be taken from the engine for jacking up the rear part of the vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a wheeled vehicle, meansvadjacent the rear thereof for raising the rear of the vehicle and swinging the same in either direction.

An additional and more specific object of the invention isto provide in a wheeled vehicle having a power driving element, jacks at the rear of the vehicle associated with'means for transmitting power from thel power ele-ment of the vehicle to the jacks forv raising the vehicle and also swinging the same, vthe structure being such that indicating means are presented on the instrument board of the vehicle for indicating. the amount of elevation ofthe rear of the vehicle.y

In the accompanying drawings- Fig. l is a top plan view of the chassis of a wheeled vehicle provided with an accessory embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailfragmentary View of one of the jacks and associated parts shown in Fig. 1, a portion being shown in' section for better illustrating the construction;

. Fig.`3 is a fragmentary perspective View showing the instrument board of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1 andillustrat'ing certainfeatures of the invention as applied thereto; K

' Fig. 4 is anenlarged fragmentary sectional View through Fig. 3 on the line 4 4;

Fig 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vsectional view through Fig, 3 on the line 5 5 and' als through Fig. 6 on the line 5 5;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional View through Fig. 5 approximately on the line 6 6;

Fig. '7 isfan enlarged sectional View through Fig. 1 approximately on the line 1 1;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary'sectional view through Fig. 1 on the line B Fig. 9 is an enlarged` fragmentary sectional View through Fig. 1 approximately on the line Fig. 10 is a sectional view through Fig. 7 approximately on the line I!J l;

Fig. 11 is a perspective View of the guiding casing shown in Fig. 10; .55' ,1 12 isaV perspective View of a seat and (Cl.l 180-1) hinged bracket associated therewith embodying certain features of the invention;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged plan view of the transmission shown in Fig. l -with certain parts broken away for better illustrating the invention;

Fig. 14 is a side View of the structure shown in Fig. 13, with certain parts `broken away to illustrate the connection ofthe control with the gear shift;

Fig. 15 is a to-p plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 14.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, l indicates the chassis of an automobile or any other desired form of wheeled vehicle.

The chassis is supported at the front and at the rear in the usual way of automobiles. The rear support for the chassis includes an axle casing 2 and suitable springs 3. The springs are connected to the axle casing 2 by suitable U-bolts 4 of any desired or preferred structure. Asshown `particularly in Fig. 8, a washer or plate 5 is arranged above the spring and a special plate or bracket li is arranged below the spring. The respectivey U-bolts 4 extend through these two plates, whereby these plates are firmly clamped to the spring and the spring in turnis firmly secured to the axle casing 2. The special plate 6 is shown in Fig. 12 and is provided with hinge knuckles 8. A hinge ear 9 extending fromseat li! accommodates a pintle ll for connecting seat ID to plate 6. Plate l) is provided with an aperture 'l for permitting screw l'l to slide therethrough when the jack is being raised or 10W- ered. As shown in Fig. 8, plate lll is clamped by suitable bolts I2 to a casing i3, which casing has an upstanding auxiliary casing I i provided with a key l5 (Fig. ll). This construction permitsv a slight swinging action for casing lll. Casing I4 accommodates a screw Il having a slot |8 which accommodates the key l5. The structure just described presents the major part of a jack for elevating the rear of the automobile.

The lower end of the screw member I1 is secured, as for instance by a pin I9, to the bar 20. Bar 2U at one end has a cable 2| pivotally connected therewith through the action of a pin 22'. Cable 2l is also pivotally connected at 23 to a ring 24 mounted on the axle casing 2. At the opposite end of bar 20, an upstanding section 25 is provided in which a stub shaft 26 is secured. A traction wheel 21 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 26. When mechanism hereinafter fully described is actuated for causing the threaded member I1 to move downwardly, for instance to. the position shown in Fig. 10, the

traction wheel 21 will engage the ground and the rear end of the automobile will be raised. The limit of the action of the screw l1 is the length of the cable 2|. When the jack is in its farthest down position, cable 2l is taut and produces an equalizing structure in respect to the wheel 21. After the jack has been moved to the position shown in Fig. 10, it may be left in that position or retracted.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the jack shown in Fig. 8 is at the left side of the automobile when looking from the rear to the front. At the right side of the automobile when looking in the same direction, a jack 29 is provided which is identical in all respects with the jack shown in Fig. 8 and the same reference numerals will therefore be used for this jack. However, the jack shown in Fig. 8 and the jack 29 are adapted to function simultaneously to raise the rear of the automobile and then, if desired, mechanism associated with the jack 29 may be used for rotating the wheel 21 for shifting the rear of the automobile laterally either to the right or left.v From Fig. 1 it will be observed that the axis of the respective wheels 21 and 21 are at right angles to the axes of the Wheels of the automobile. By reason of this fact, whenever wheel 21 is rotated it will shift the rear of the automobile laterally. The jacks just described may be used merely to raise and lower the rear of the automobile or may be used to raise the rear of the automobile and then swing the same laterally into a parked position. The rear of the automobile could then be lowered and the jacked wheels 21 and 21 raised to the position shown in Fig. 7.

As illustrated parti-cularly in Fig. 1, the automobile is provided with a prime mover, as for instance an engine 39, which may be any desired kind of engine. This engine is connected through suitable transmission 3| to the drive shaft 32, which shaft is connected through a differential `and housing 3 to the rear axles of the automobile and there in turn are connected to the rear wheels. The construction just described is old and well known. Associated with the transmission mechanism 3| are auxiliary transmission mechanisms 34 and 35 which are of special construction. By manipulating the hand lever 36, power may be taken from the transmission mechanism 3| through the mechanism 34 for rotating the shaft 31 and also for driving the flexible shaft 38 which in turn will drive the mechanism in the indicator 39. By manipulating the hand lever 46, power may be taken from the transmission mechanism 3| and transmitted through mechanism 35 to the shaft '4| for rotating the same. In this way, power may be transmitted at different times or at the same time to shafts 31 and 4l. When shaft 31 is being rotated the jacks at the rear will be raised or lowered, and when shaft 4| is being rotated power is transmitted toawheel 21 for rotating the same, whereby the'automoble may swing to the right or left f :according to the direction of rotation of shaft 4|.

lAs. shown in Figs. 13, 14 and 15, power is transmitted from gear wheel 42 of the transmission :mechanism 3|, which Ais of any usual or preferred kind, to thev shaft 43 through an idler 44 and `through gear 45 which is rigidly secured to the shaft 43. `A sleeve 46 is splined to shaft 43, said sleeve having gear wheels 41 and 48. The gear `wheels 41 and y48 may be associated with other rgears, as for instance, gears 49 and 50, to provide a forwarddrive and a reverse'drive for the shaft and associated parts lto move the gear wheels into neutral position, or into the forward drive position or the rearward drive position. Arm 5| is rigidly secured to a rock shaft 52, which shaft extends through the casing 53 S0 that the lever 54 may be rigidly secured thereto. A Bowdin wire 55 has one end rigidly secured to arm 5|, as shown in Fig. 1. This Wire extends to and is secured to lever 36, as shown more in detail in Fig. 4. As shown in this figure, 51 indicates the instrument board and to this board is secured a bracket 58 and also abracket 59. Lever 36l is pivotally mounted at 6U on bracket 59. An arcshaped guide 62 is also bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the instrument board and is provided with three depressions 63. These depressions are equally spaced and the end of a screw 64 is adapted tosnap into any of these depressions or apertures. The screw 64 is carried by lever 36 and extends a short distance therebeyond so that when the knob 56 is pulled downwardly the end of the screw 64 will move out of the depression in which it is located and slide along the bracket 62 and snap into thenext depression 63.

As shown in Fig, 4, the parts are set in their neutral position. When the lever 36 is pulled downwardly, it will automatically stop at the lowermost depression 63 and when it is pulled upwardly to its fullest extent it will stop atthe highest depression 63. When the lever is pulled downwardly, shaft 31 will rotate in a direction for raising the rear of the automobile. When the lever 36 is moved to its extreme upward position shaft 31 will rotate in the opposite direction for lowering the rear vof the automobile. When the lever 36 is in the central position, as shown in'Fig. 4, the various gears, etc., shown in Fi-g. 13 will be in neutral.

The lever 40 and associated parts are identical with lever 36 and associated parts and, therefore, will need no additional description.l The same reference numerals will also be used in respect to lever 40.

Referring again to Fig. 13, it will' be seen. that the gear wheel 65 is splined on the shaft extension 66 and is provided with a hub 6 1 having an lannular groove cooperating with a yoke 68.

Yoke 68 is connected with a lever 69, as shown in Fig. 14, which lever carries at its outer end a rod 19 having a knob or pedal 1| at the upper end. Rod' 16 extends through the floor of the automobile so that after the lever 36 has beenfadjusted to drive shaft 31 forwardly orrearwardly, rod 10 is depressed, whereupon the gear 61 will move into mesh with the gear 12 forming part of the Usual transmission of the automobile. If the engine is running, power will then be transmitted to shaft 31. To shut off this power it is only necessary to raise the foot from the rod 10 and spring 14 will push gear 65 out of mesh. This will instantly stop the transmission of power to shaft 31.

An identical structure is provided with respect to the auxiliary transmission mechanism 35 and,

therefore, no additional description yis thought actuated for raising and loweringr the` jacks.`

After the jacks; have raisedthe rear of the automobile tothe desired height, the foot is removed from theV pedal and then if 'it is desired' to swing the automobile to the right or left, lever 40 is adjustedto the desired position and then the rod 102 of the auxiliary transmissionv 35y is depressed. -This willv transmitpower to shaft 4| andto the wheel 21', and as. this wheel rotates the rearof the automobile will be'swung in the desired direction. As shown in Figs. '7 and 8, as the shaft 4| rotates it will rotate the worm r15 which lin'turn willrotate the Worm wheel 16. r A shaft 11' is rigidly secured to the worm wheel 16 and also-to a bevel gear 18. Bevel gear 18is in continual mesh with a bevel gear 19 rigidly secured by bolts or otherwise to the wheel 21. In this way power is transmitted to wheel 21 for causing the same to swing the rear of the automobile either to the right or left. It will be understood that usually power is not transmitted to wheel. 214 until after the same has been used to lift the rear of the automobile though if it is done before the wheelis lowered nothing objecticnaible will happen as the wheel will merely rotate idly. When the shaft 31 is rotated it k.will rotate the auxiliary shaft 31. as shown in Fig. 8. Auxiliary shaft 31 is carried by a housing 89 secured in any desired way to the housing I4. A bevel'gear 8| is rigidly-secured to shaft 31 and continually in mesh with a bevel gear 82 secured to shaft 83, which latter shaft is rigidly secured to a bevel gear 84 continually in mesh with a bevel gear 95 positioned in casing |3. A shaft 30 is rigidly'sec'ured to the bevel gear 05 and carries a worm 81 which is continually in mesh with a worm wheelv 88 rotatably `carried by the casing i3. `The bore of the worm wheel 88 is threaded and this wheel is screwed on to the jack screw I1, as shown particularly in Fig. 8. By reason of this construction, whenever shaft 31 rotates power will be transmitted to ythe worm wheel 823 and to the jack screw I1 for raising or lowering the same. In additionfpowerfrom the shaft will be transmitted through the universal joint 89 `(Fig. 7) to a transversely extending hollow shaft 9| which slidingly receives shaft 90.' The shaft 90 may be square and the bored in shaft 9| may be also square or the parts may be round and a key and keyway used so that the shafts 90 and 9| may rotate in unison though allowed an independently sliding movement in respect to each other. Shaft 90 is connected through a universal joint 92 to a shaft 93, which latter shaft carries a worm 94 (Fig. 9) which is continually in mesh with a worm wheel 95 having a threaded bore for accommodating the jack screw I1 of jack 29. By means .of the construction just described, whenever power is transmitted to the jack screw i1 for raising or lowering the same, power will also be transmitted to the jack screw I1 so that both of these screws will move upwardly or downwardly in unison and will lboth receive power from shaft 31 for securing this result. Each yof the jack screws is provided with a housing I4, as shown particularly in Fig. rl1. This housing is provided with a bore 96 for receiving the jack screw and a rectangular slideway 91 having a slot 98. A shoe 99 (Fig. 7) fits into the slideway 91 and from this shoe a shaft |00 extends, said shaft projecting, through slot 98. Shaft |00 is clamped 'by suitable nuts |0| and |02 to a bracket |03 riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the chassis I, as shown in Fig. '7. As the bracket |03 and associated parts described in respect to the left part of the machine, as shown in Fig. 7,

is identical with that on the right side, the same reference numerals will apply. This construction coacts with the member l0 shown in Fig. 12 so that if there should be a slight upward movement of either end of the axle casing 2 independent of the chassis, the hinge structure shown in Fig. l2 will compensate for this slight difference in angle of the respective parts. The shoe 99 and associated parts is intended principally to maintain the casing I4 and associated parts extending vertically so that the jack screws will normallyY move vertically upwardly and downwardly. i

Referring more particularly to Figs. 3, and 6, it will be seen that there is provided a telltale indicating or warning device 39 for indicating to the operator when the jacks have been raised or lowered. A window |04 is provided in the instrument board 51 and in back of this window there is provided an indicating wheel |06. The wheel |03 has a, number of spaced indicating spots |01 which may be ofvarious colors. The spot |01 is .red so that when it comes to a central point in the rwindow |04 the operator will know that the jacks have been fully lowered and the parts are substantially in the position shown in Fig. 10. When he sees the spot |01' positioned centrally, as shown in Fig. 3, he will immediately release the pedal and the spring 14 (Fig. 13) will force the gear wheel 05 out of mesh with gear wheel 12. This will immediately stop the transmission of power from the engine and the raising action will cease. When the raising action first takes place, the sprocket wheel |08 (Fig. 13) will be rotated as it is rigidly secured to the driving shaft which drives the rod 31. Chain |09 is therefore moved and will rotate the sprocket wheel ||0 rigidly secured to the flexible cable 38. Flexible cable 38 extends to a vposition in back of the instrument board 51 and is journaled' on a UU-shaped bracket II2 as shown in Fig. 5. A worml I I3 is secured to the end portion of this cable so as to be rotated as the cable rotates. Worm ||3 continually meshes with the worm gear H4, which worm gear is rigidly secured lto shaft- ||5 and this shaft is rigidly secured to the wheel |06. The U-shaped bracket I I2 is provided with laterally extending feet |16 which are bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the instrument board 51. A similar bracket ||2 is arranged on the opposite side of wheel |06, as shown in Fig. 6. These brackets support shaft ||5 and parts carried thereby. It will be understood that the rod 31 and the flexible shaft |I| rotate in unison and rotate when the jacks are being raised and also rotated in the opposite drection when the jacks are being lowered so that wheel |06 lshown in Fig. 5 will be moved all the time the jacks are being raised or lowered. One of the spots |01 may be of a special color, as for instance green, for indicating when the jack has been fully raised.

I claim: Y

l. An accessory for a wheeled vehicle having a chassis, front and rear supporting traction wheels and means including an engine for rotating certain of said traction wheels, a pair of jacks connected to the chassis near the rear end thereof,

veach of said jacks being provided with a casing connected with said chassis, a worm wheel arranged in said casing provided with a threaded bore, a jack screw extending through said threaded bore, a bar connected to the lower end of the jack screw, a wheel rotatably mounted on one end of each of said bars, the axes of said Wheels extending substantially'parallel with the center of said chassis, a, flexible cable connected to the other end of each of said bars and to said chassis for limiting the downward movement of said bars, means for transmitting power from said engine to said worm wheel for rotating the same and thereby raise or lower said jacks, auxiliary means for transmitting power from said engine to one of the jacks and to one of said traction wheels for rotating the same whereby the rear of said chassis may be swung laterally.

l 2. In a device of the character described, a jack for an automobile provided with a chassis including a rear axle casing, a jack casing secured to said chassis, a worm wheel rotatably mounted in said casing and provided with a threaded bore, said casing having an inwardly extending key, a jackscrew extending through said worm Wheel and through the casing, said screw having a 4groove for receivingl said key, whereby when said worm wheel rotates said jack screw will be raised orlowered but not rotated, a worm continually meshing with said worm wheel, a power shaft connected with said worm wheel for rotating the worm, a bar securing the lower end of said jack screw, a cable pivotally connected at one end of said bar, means for pivotally mounting the other end of said cable on said axle casing, a journal shaft extending from the opposite end of the bar to where said cable is connected, and a traction wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft.

3. In a device of the character described, a pair of jacks for an automobile provided with a. chassis, means for connecting said jacks with the chassis near the rear wheels of the automobile,

means for transmitting power from the engine of the automobile to one of the jacks for raising and lowering the same, means for transmitting power from the last mentioned jack to the other jack for simultaneously raising the other jack, each of said jacks having a rotatable traction wheel adapted to engage the ground when the jacks have been actuated for elevating the rear of the automobile, said traction wheels having their axes substantially parallel to the center of said chassis, and power transmitting means extendingrfrom the engine of the automobilev to said other jack for rotating the wheel carried thereby.

4. In a device of the character described, a pair of jacks adapted to be connected to the chassis of an automobile, each of said jacks including a casing, a supporting seat connected with said casing, means for swingably connecting said supporting seat with the chassis of an automobile, said casing being mounted on said seat and `formed with an extension having a tubular bore and a, lrectangular slideway, means secured to said chassis slidingly mounted in said slideway, said casing having a key extending into said bore, a jack screw mounted in said bore and provided with a slot for accommodating said key, a ground engaging member connected with said screw at the lower end thereof, a worm wheel arranged in said casing provided with a threaded bore for receiving said jack screw, a worm meshing with said worm wheel, and an actuating shaft secured to said worm for rotating the same and thereby raising and lowering said jack screws.

5. In a device of the character described, a pair of jacks adapted to be connected to the rear of the chassis of an automobile, means connecting said jacks so that they will be raised and lowered simultaneously, a motor driven by the engine of the automobile for actuating said jacks for raising and lowering the same, means for connecting and disconnecting said motor with the transmission of the automobile, and a, exible shaft connected with said motor and rotated simultaneously therewith, a worm rotated by said flexible shaft, said worm being positioned adjacent the instrument board of the automobile, a worm wheel actuated by said worm, an indicating wheel rigidly secured to said worm wheel, said indicating wheel having spaced indicating spots for indicating the relative positions of said jacks in respect to the ground, and a Window in the instrument board of the automobile arranged in front of said indicating wheel. Y

JOHN' W. SCHAFER.

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